Chapter Twenty-Five
Beethoven sounded off, and John gave serious consideration to tossing the damn thing in the ocean. How had that blaring old tune never bothered him before? “Hello?”
“Bad time?”
“No, not at all.” John glanced at the time. “Pretty late in California. What are you doing still working?”
Evelyn sighed into the phone. “Just tying up a few loose ends. Flying back to L.A. in the morning. Thought I’d check in.”
“Just checking in? At this hour?”
“Okay, Smythe is an idiot. Did you know that?”
“Not really.” He chuckled. “Senior always did the talking. Stodgy. Solid businessman. Lousy taste in wives. Junior mostly just nodded. What’s wrong with him?”
“He asked me to get him coffee.”
John barely swallowed a laugh. “And he’s still alive?”
“By the grace of God and my dislike of confined spaces.”
“So what did you do?”
“I got him a cup of coffee.” She hesitated a second. “May have accidentally put a few extra sugars in it.”
This time he did laugh. “He’s lucky you didn’t use arsenic.”
“I considered a laxative, but there was no time to send anyone to the store.”
“That would have been rich.” John laid back in the recliner and stretched out his legs. “What else?”
“Project heads spent most of the afternoon poring over blueprints. Stanowitz came right out and asked Smythe if any of the design team had changed.”
“What did he say?”
“He didn’t. I’ve never seen anyone so adept at avoiding a direct question.”
“His father was the same way. Stanowitz bought it?”
“No. He canceled the rest of the meeting and told Smythe, if the updated designs didn’t come back next time as expected, that another architect would be brought in who could deliver.”
“I’m sure that went over well. Also explains why Ava got a call from E&S yesterday.”
“I still think it would have been easier to just ax the twit and hire Ava.”
“No. Smythe needs to make this deal right on her terms. Not ours. He will find a way to bring her back on board without our firm having to do anything. We won’t be involved. She’ll get the professional credit she deserves, and I’ll get the time I need.”
“I don’t know what you’re up to, but something tells me you’d better move a little faster.”
And wasn’t he thinking the same damn thing.
* * *
From Harry’s residence, she went straight to Nick and Kara’s. Angela, the sneak, had neglected to mention that she and Harry had already drawn up a contract and were just waiting for her to sign. As excited as she was at the prospect of buying a house, especially for so little, there was no way she was signing anything without Kara’s okay. Harry Malakii might be a really sweet old man, but she wasn’t taking any chances.
Nick paced with baby Catherine on his shoulder, as Kara flipped another page. Anticipation and excitement had Ava struggling to keep her mouth shut.
“Well.” Kara set her glasses on the table beside her. “Angela seems to have made sure all the bases are covered and your ass is protected. I honestly don’t see anything that I would require changing, though, in this case, because of his advanced age, I would strongly encourage an amendment to the sale that addresses Harry’s sound mind, signed and notarized by disinterested witnesses.”
“That makes sense.” Ava nodded. “If I hadn’t spent so many hours talking to the man, I would have thought he had to be crazy or senile too.” The afternoon had flown by. Not until dinner was being served did she realize how long she’d stayed.
“So he’s carried a torch for your grandmother all these years?” Nick asked.
“No.” Ava shook her head. “I don’t think so. It sounded to me like two good friends decided to marry, and then they each fell in love with their soulmates, before they could seal the deal.”
“You sure?” Kara stacked the contract pages together.
“I wasn’t at first, but, when you watch his eyes as he talked about his wife, Sally, you could see the years slip away. He loved her very much.”
“And they never had children,” Kara added.
“And he can’t stand his nephew.”
Nick kissed his wife lightly on the lips, as he handed off their daughter. The gentle gesture had Ava smothering a sigh. “Doesn’t he have other nieces or nephews?”
“Not that he likes.”
“But he likes you?” Nick asked.
Ava had to pause a minute. Now she would like to think yes. But that wasn’t why he’d made the original offer. “He likes Mom.”
Kara swayed in place, patting Catherine on the back. “He knows Maile?”
“When she was a little girl. Apparently Walter was a brat from his first words.”
Nick shrugged. “I’m still not sure I get it.”
“I suppose you could write it off to don’t piss off your rich relatives.”
“Hmm.” Nick smiled. “Maybe I should call Mom and Dad.”
Kara smacked her husband on the arm. “Don’t be silly.”
The two grinned at each other like a couple of lovesick teenagers, and Ava decided her friends didn’t need a chaperone. “I’d better be going. Thanks so much.”
“Anytime.” Kara nodded.
Nick slung an arm around his wife’s shoulder and nodded. Ava grabbed the papers and, hugging them against her, said her good-byes and nearly skipped to her car. Her day had been so full, she’d missed meeting up with John and Maggie at the hospital. As it was, she was barely going to get there before visiting hours ended. By the time she visited with the youngest Everrett, it would be too late to just drop by the guesthouse. And not seeing Forrest today bothered her a little more than it should.